Aaron Alejandro Olivas

I am an assistant professor of History at the State University of New York Maritime College in New York City. My specialization is Atlantic World History, and my research focuses on the transition from Habsburg to Bourbon rule in late colonial Spanish America (1665-1746). I concentrate on trans-imperial relations---above all, global trade networks---between elites of Spanish America (especially in the Caribbean Basin), France, and the French Antilles.

My current book project, Trading Dynasties: Negotiating Loyalty in Spanish America During the Bourbon Succession Crisis (1700-1715), examines the transatlantic repercussions of the War of the Spanish Succession---the first truly global war. Through an analysis of disloyalty trials, it determines how and why subjects in Spanish America chose to support one of the two rival claimants to the Spanish throne: Philippe d'Anjou (Felipe V) or Archduke Charles of Austria (Carlos III). These cases highlight the influence of foreign commercial alliances (French, English, and Dutch) in shaping personal and political loyalties during the late colonial period. The project also focuses on the role of French cloth merchants, ministers of state, and slave traders (agents of the Compagnie Royale de Guinée) in consolidating Bourbon sovereignty in Spanish America and combating the dynasty's enemies through the Asiento (slave monopoly) between 1701-1713. It combines extensive archival research from Mexico, Spain, and France to present a more global perspective of the war.

I am planning a future project on the French textile trade and Spanish American consumerism from the reign of Louis XIV to Napoleon Bonaparte (c. 1659-1815). This project will analyze the impact of Northern European commercial forces on economics, identity, and politics in the Caribbean and Mexico well before the rise of neo-colonialism.
Phone: (718)409-7484
Address: SUNY Maritime College
Dept. of Humanities (Fort A-23)
6 Pennyfield Avenue
The Bronx, NY 10465